Funding of £10 million is going to be made available for a park-and-ride service on the outskirts of Dunfermline, as part of the overall project for the Forth replacement crossing (FRC).
The Halbeath scheme will be built by 2013 during the FRC development to help relieve traffic congestion. Transport minister Keith Brown made the announcement on Monday at the same time as the Scottish Government revealed the preferred bidder for the new Forth road bridge.
Mr Brown said, “We will give £10 million to the Halbeath park-and-ride facility which will be up and running by 2013. It will provide 1000 car parking spaces. We have to safeguard what is a vital part of the motorway network and encourage use of this facility and also use of public transport.
“The existing Forth Road Bridge will continue to be used as a dedicated public transport corridor. The new park-and-ride would ease congestion for traffic going into Edinburgh.”
Fife Council expressed delight at the news. Head of transport services Bob McLellan said, “We aim to have this new park-and-ride facility at Halbeath up and running before the new Forth crossing works start to change the Ferrytoll interchange and park-and-ride, so that commuters will still have an alternative to taking their cars across the bridge with a dedicated bus lane all the way to the existing bridge from Halbeath.”
Following a committee decision in February, council officers are working to buy the land the project will need.
Dr McLellan added, “We know that traffic approaching the Forth Road Bridge will be significantly impacted while the new crossing is being built. We need to help people make more use of public transport and car sharing or the congestion could be horrendous at peak times.”